LET’S MAKE 2014 A HEALTHIER YEAR

Stockport residents are being encouraged to make positive lifestyle changes to improve their health in 2014.  To help people become healthier, Stockport Council and partners are launching the ‘Get Involved in a Healthier Stockport’ campaign this January.

The campaign looks to encourage residents to get involved and try out different ways of getting healthy, choosing the best way to suit their lifestyle.

People can visit the Healthy Stockport website at www.healthystockport.co.uk or call 0161 426 5085 for free and confidential information about getting healthy.

Councillor John Pantall, Stockport Council’s Executive Member for Health and Wellbeing, said:

“This campaign is about urging people to make important and positive changes to their health such as walking. Research shows that doing one simple change is more effective than making several changes at once.

“We should all be looking to start 2014 with a real desire and commitment to improve a health issue such as weight, smoking, drinking, or generally being more active which will also have a positive impact on people’s general wellbeing.”

Jayne Edwards from Brinnington has been successful in losing weight thanks to support from Healthy Stockport. Jayne weighed nearly 26 stone in May 2012.

The Healthy Stockport team helped Jayne make changes to her diet and by October 2013 Jayne had lost over ten stone, and the weight continues to come off. Jayne has now set up her own walking group, Brinnington Walkers 4 Life, to help others lose the pounds and she has been shortlisted for a Changing Lifestyle Recognition Award at the Greater Manchester Sports Awards.

Jayne, pictured above with Councillor John Pantall and local dog walkers at Vernon Park enjoying a walk, said:

“The Healthy Stockport team gave me brilliant support of the kind I hadn’t got before, friendly but firm, giving me the motivation which I really needed. They made me realise I needed to fix my head, not my stomach.”

Below are some effective and simple ways people can make a positive lifestyle change in 2014:  

• Use food swaps to become healthier and look out for the Change4Life  adverts on TV in January or register at www.registration.change4life.co.uk   
• Dry January – stop drinking alcohol for 31 days. For more information  visit www.dryjanuary.org.uk
• Quit smoking – for motivation and support to help quit smoking visit  www.smokefree.nhs.uk
• Everyone in Stockport aged 35 to 74 years, can ask their GP about their next invitation for a FREE NHS Health Check. For more information visit  www.healthcheck.nhs.uk